THE WEATHER BEAT · SEP 17
River flood warnings span seven states, from a near-record Wabash to a weed-dammed Florida river
Flood Warnings covered 16plus counties Thursday, led by an Indiana river near its flood of record and a Florida river dammed by weeds, not rain.
Key points
- As of Thursday morning, the National Weather Service had Flood Warnings covering at least 16 counties across seven states, from Iowa to Florida, meeting the day's threshold for river flooding on the wire.
- The Wabash River near Linn Grove, Indiana, was forecast to crest at a level the warning itself called approaching the flood of record, with some evacuations possible.
- Only one of the eight warnings names rain as a stranger cause: the Withlacoochee River in Florida has been rising since July because aquatic weed growth is damming the channel, not because of a storm.
A river rise with no single storm behind it
None of Thursday's flood warnings share a weather system. They share a threshold: enough counties, in enough states, to be the day's flood story on the wire, and each one is worth its own line.
The sharpest number sits on the Wabash River in northeast Indiana. The National Weather Service's Northern Indiana office, in warnings issued at 6:25 a.m. EDT Thursday, said the river near Linn Grove was forecast to rise to 14.3 feet against a flood stage of 11.0 feet, and wrote plainly that this approaches the flood of record. At that level, the warning said, secondary roads are blocked, roads near the east side of Geneva begin to flood, and some evacuations may be required. A separate segment of the same river near Bluffton, in Wells County, was reported minor: a crest of 12.6 feet against a flood stage of 10.0 feet, enough to flood the access road to the Bluffton wastewater treatment plant.
In southwest Iowa, NWS Omaha/Valley said small stream flooding on the East Nishnabotna River near Riverton, in Fremont and Page Counties, followed excessive rainfall and was expected to end by 9:45 a.m. CDT Thursday.
Missouri and Kansas carried three more river warnings from NWS Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, all issued Wednesday night: the Grand River near Sumner, forecast to reach moderate flooding across Chariton, Carroll, Livingston and Linn Counties; the Platte River near Agency in Buchanan County, forecast to minor flood stage; and Stranger Creek at Easton, on the Atchison-Leavenworth county line, also forecast to minor flood stage.
In central Arizona, NWS Phoenix warned Maricopa and Pinal Counties overnight for flooding from excessive rainfall, with a county flood-control gauge already reading flood stage on the East Maricopa Floodway and low-water crossings at risk in rural parts of both counties into Thursday morning.
The odd one out is in Florida. The Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon, spanning Marion, Citrus and Levy Counties, has been rising since July and reached flood stage on September 15, but NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin's warning gives a cause with no rain in it: excessive hydrilla growth, from the river bottom to the surface, along a 4.5 mile stretch between US 41 and Lake Rousseau, acting like a dam and holding water back. The warning carries no rain in the forecast and no end date, only "until further notice," with the river's 28.2 foot stage compared in the product itself to a previous crest of 28.4 feet on August 25, 2008.
The warnings, for the nerds
| location | river/cause | stage cited | flood stage | crest / status | issued | until |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linn Grove, IN (Adams, Wells Co.) | Wabash River | 12.4 ft, rising | 11.0 ft | forecast 14.3 ft, approaches flood of record | Thu 6:25 AM EDT | Mon evening (per product) |
| Bluffton, IN (Wells Co.) | Wabash River | 11.7 ft, rising | 10.0 ft | forecast crest 12.6 ft | Thu 6:25 AM EDT | Sun evening (per product) |
| Riverton, IA (Fremont, Page Co.) | East Nishnabotna River, heavy rain | rising | -- | small stream flooding | Thu 6:23 AM CDT | Thu 9:45 AM CDT |
| Sumner, MO (Chariton, Carroll, Livingston, Linn Co.) | Grand River | -- | 23.0 ft impact level | moderate flooding forecast | Wed 9:01 PM CDT | Sat evening (per product) |
| Agency, MO (Buchanan Co.) | Platte River | -- | 20.0 ft impact level | minor flooding forecast | Wed 8:56 PM CDT | Fri evening (per product) |
| Easton, KS (Atchison, Leavenworth Co.) | Stranger Creek | 12.7 ft (Wed 8:30 PM CDT) | 17.0 ft impact level | minor flooding forecast | Wed 9:05 PM CDT | Thu night (per product) |
| Maricopa/Pinal Co., AZ | East Maricopa Floodway, excessive rainfall | at flood stage (gauge) | -- | low-water crossings at risk | Wed 8:34 PM MST | Thu 8:30 AM MST |
| Dunnellon, FL (Citrus, Levy, Marion Co.) | Withlacoochee River, hydrilla growth | 28.2 ft | 28.2 ft | steady above flood stage | Wed 9:14 PM EDT | further notice |
Source: NWS active alerts API, fetched 2026-09-17 11:55Z. Stage, flood-stage and crest figures are quoted from each warning's own WHAT/WHERE/ADDITIONAL DETAILS text; "per product" marks the river's own forecast-crest date, which can differ from the alert's technical expiration field.
This is a summary of official warnings, not emergency information. For live warnings see weather.gov and your local officials.
The rock's live forecast for the places in this story
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